Thursday, July 9, 2009

Gnocchi with Roasted Beets and Wilted Greens

I used to hate beets. I think it's because when I was little and we'd go to a restaurant with a salad bar, my mother would take me with her and ask me to pick out anything I might want. I saw what looked like canned cranberry sauce: sliced rounds of something deep red and jello-esque and was drawn to it, thinking it was that stuff I liked from Thanksgiving. Mom would say, "I don't think you want that. I don't think you'd like it." I'd stubbornly insist that I indeed wanted that, so she'd shrug and put it on her plate. Back at the table, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when instead of the sweet but tart jellied goodness I was expecting, I'd instead find something pickled and slightly crunchy. Like the stubborn adult I am today, I'd keep eating it just to avoid admitting I had been wrong.But this dish made me a convert. Our CSA included a batch of golden beets in our basket last year and included a recipe for gnocchi, beets, goat cheese, and garlic butter. I decided to give it a try but tried roasting the beets instead of boiling them and thought that it was a shame to waste all those lovely beet greens so I thought I might stir those in as well. I love the way beets smell as they're roasting (I do mine with a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of salt and pepper with a couple of sprigs of thyme from our garden): the caramelizing sugars almost smell like cookies to me, but there's an underlying verdant aroma to it. So cookies outdoors? Not sure. Also, the greens smell grassy to me, but once they cook, they're subtle in flavor, but a little acidic (as John rightfully pointed out.) The acid is a good counterbalance to the creaminess of the goat cheese and the sweet but distinctly vegetable flavor of the beets. But it's the toasted walnuts that really pull it altogether for me. The crunch is a good texture contrast to the softness of the rest of the dish, plus toasting them brings out the melted butter and who doesn't love that? This paired nicely with a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc we bought on our trip to Napa last September from the Sequoia Grove Winery.Yep. I like beets. Not enough to eat this, but I wouldn't want to miss a summer or a fall that didn't have at least one dinner with beets. If you think you don't like beets, please give this a try. The colors alone will entice you.1 16 oz package of gnocchi (unless you have the time to make your own!)1 bunch of beets (don't know... 1lb?) with the greens still attached.2 tbsp olive oil, divided2 sprigs fresh thyme2 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced1/4 cup walnuts, toasted2 oz chevre2 tbsp butter1 tbsp chopped chives1 tbsp basil, thinly choppedsalt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the stems from the beets and reserve the greens. Wash the beets thoroughly and cut each one in half lengthwise. Take a longish piece of aluminum foil (enough so that when folded in half you can make a packet to fit all the beet halves) and drizzle with about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the beets and lay the thyme sprigs on top. Fold the foil over to cover the beets and roll up the sides. Cook in your oven for about 40 minutes or until fork tender.In the meantime, toast the walnuts in a toaster oven at about 325 degrees or in a dry pan. Cook for about 10 minutes or until you can smell them (but why trust me? I burned my nuts. That's what she said!) Rough chop the greens and wash and drain them thoroughly. When the beets are done, unwrap the foil and let them cool until you can touch them without burning your fingers off. Peel away the skins and slice the beet halves lengthwise or whatever way you think makes them look pretty.Cook the gnocchi according to package directions and drain. Heat the remaining tbsp of olive oil in the pot and stir the greens around until wilted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste then set aside. Melt the butter and add the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat until the garlic is softened and cooked but not burned. Toss the gnocchi and the greens in the butter until heated through then plate. Sprinkle the beets, walnuts, goat cheese, chives, and basil in hopefully a pretty way and serve.

P.S. Unless you like your food to look like that shirt you were thinking of buying at Filene's Basement, I wouldn't recommend doing this with red beets. The shocking pink stain to the gnocchi is not appetizing (she says from past experience.)

9 comments:

FREAK COINCIDENCE....if you look closely at the photo of Mollie Moon's beet sorbet, Chris and I are standing in line in the background. I now vaguely remember a guy taking a picture of his sundae as we were waiting at the Capitol Hill Store.

Cookbooks often point out that with beets, size doesn't matter: the large ones are as tasty and tender (or not) as the small ones. I've found that there's a huge difference in roasting time, though (and roasted is almost the only way I like them done). The large ones take two hours or more for me. But unlike you, I don't cut them before roasting them. Total speculation on my part, but I think the flavor is more concentrated if you keep the skin intact during roasting.

About Me

About This Blog

This has been a year of terrible personal loss and and terrifying challenges in the form of finishing law school and trying to find a job in this economy. So although the world probably does not need another food blog, I started this as a means of keeping my head above water, to keep me balanced and sane, and to keep tabs on my culinary experimentations. The goal is to live recipe free, to be one of those home cooks who can look at what's available in my community supported agriculture (CSA) share box, on sale at the store, in my husband's garden, or leftover in my refrigerator and transform it into something delicious. I'm translating my efforts into recipes that I can look back on to improve upon or if someone who stumbles on this wants to try it out at home and give me ideas for improvement.

Disclaimer

I have no formal cooking training. Anything I know has been gleaned from watching cooking shows, reading food blogs/cookbooks/magazines, and trial and error. I can't say that what I post here is worth replicating at home, but people in my house found it tasty so I'm posting it here primarily for my future reference. Also, if you're a stickler for precise measurements, most of mine are estimates unless it came in a package that told me how much was in it.